xkcd

by **duckshirt** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:02 pm UTC

I'm running another 10k Sunday to try to beat my PR from last time, and then hopefully running a long run afterwards and trying to get 20+ miles in total for the day to get in shape for a marathon... Either April 11 or May 16, I still haven't figured out which will work.

by **duckshirt** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 4:39 pm UTC

Well, I unfortunately couldn't race today due to lack of public transportation, but I did manage to get my long workout in. 15 minute warmup + 4 x 6 minute cruise intervals + 75 minutes easy + 4 x 6 minute cruise intervals + 13:30 cooldown = ~21.5 miles... I'm getting excited for whichever marathon it may be.

by **Gears** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:43 am UTC

Ran 1.5 miles in 12 minutes. That's pretty good for not running for a year.

by **Izawwlgood** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:40 am UTC

Training for the tri, did a 10k bike, 5k run in 40 minutes. The swim was a joke (joke like, ow, ow, drowning... i hate swimming...)

Anyone ever crash an official event? Just ninja it, get in and run, come out of the chute and walk off?

by **artixfoxeye** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:13 am UTC

Izawwlgood wrote:Training for the tri, did a 10k bike, 5k run in 40 minutes. The swim was a joke (joke like, ow, ow, drowning... i hate swimming...)

Anyone ever crash an official event? Just ninja it, get in and run, come out of the chute and walk off?

It does sound like a wonderful Idea to just go jump into an event... However, I don't know if I have it in me... haha... I would need to get in shape first. I ran 3 miles today with about five 2 minute breaks where I'd walk; it was damp, slightly cold, and my asthma loved it... But I did it, it really shows me how not working out for 2 weeks kills ya.. Oh man I gotta get back into it.

by **Captain Kirk** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:01 am UTC

Hey, everybody.
I have recently felt the urge to lose some weight, by dieting, running, and doing home exercises(i.e. push-ups, sit-ups, etc.). I'm not planning on doing anything completely drastic to my diet, just cutting out excessive and fatty things and eating more fruits and veggies. I weigh about 185-190, and am 5'10-11". I was an athletic and active child, and I'm still good at sports, but to be frank, I'm lazy. I want to start running and exercising again. I know I can run 1/2 a mile in under four minutes, and a full mile at about ten.
I just got this pair of Puma shoes:
http://www.shop.puma.com/Cell-Cerae-III ... cgid=23120
Are these good for running? I'm on a budget right now, so they're all I've got.
Anyway, I plan to start running early every morning before I get ready for school. I plan on running for a good 20-30 minutes. My main question is, for optimum weight loss, how often should I run and how long for?
Thanks for any advice

by **Meteorswarm** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:09 am UTC

Captain Kirk wrote:Hey, everybody.
I have recently felt the urge to lose some weight, by dieting, running, and doing home exercises(i.e. push-ups, sit-ups, etc.). I'm not planning on doing anything completely drastic to my diet, just cutting out excessive and fatty things and eating more fruits and veggies. I weigh about 185-190, and am 5'10-11". I was an athletic and active child, and I'm still good at sports, but to be frank, I'm lazy. I want to start running and exercising again. I know I can run 1/2 a mile in under four minutes, and a full mile at about ten.
I just got this pair of Puma shoes:
http://www.shop.puma.com/Cell-Cerae-III ... cgid=23120
Are these good for running? I'm on a budget right now, so they're all I've got.
Anyway, I plan to start running early every morning before I get ready for school. I plan on running for a good 20-30 minutes. My main question is, for optimum weight loss, how often should I run and how long for?
Thanks for any advice

Well, for *optimum* weight loss, you should run as much as possible, but 30 minutes a day is a perfectly good start.

Those look like reasonable running shoes if you subscribe to the heel-to-toe running philosophy, with that bit squooshy-looking heel support they have. I wouldn't like them personally, but use what you've got - I ran in shoes that I didn't prefer until last month and did fine for exercise.

by **Samsoneffect** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:31 am UTC

Finally got my own runners out of winter hibernation, now that the weather in Southern Ontario has gotten about the 10 C mark. Only been out three times and trying to get my 5K form back, going to try to eventually run a 5K in under 20 minutes.

by **aldrich_lucas** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:36 am UTC

Mainly short distance though, due to the school I attend, I do well in middle distance and cross-countries as well.

I like athletics, specialising in the 200m and 400m, though I'm not awful at 100m. I get too tired in 800m though, but when the pace is slower (like in cross-country), I can keep up and usually don't do too badly.

by **clumsy_culhane** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:11 am UTC

Hey all,

Just starting running again, after six months off due to really bad shin splints (Couldn't walk properly for a few days after run, took 2 months off running before I had no pain whilst walking or at night). During those six months I tried to keep up my fitness, as well put on some muscle. Was doing three days a week weight training, riding twice a week and swimming once a week. I went from 69 kg to 85 kg in ~6 months. Now that I've started running, i've stopped all weights, only keeping up the swimming. I've dropped from a <18 minute 5km to >22 minutes.. and I dont think I run 15km anymore (my PB for 15km was 1:02 hr:min, i was training for a sub 1:30 20km).

I'm currently only running one or two times a week, plus a bit of cycling and one 1.5km swim. I just joined the school cross country team, and was planning to cut out the riding,keep the swimming (its kinda a social thing too) and do two longish (5-15), slow runs per week on grass (to help the shins) and two shorter, fast (4-5k) runs on gravel. So far, my shins have been mostly ok, no pain afterwards which is a huge relief.

The question to the forum is, how long do you think it will take to get my fitness back, and lose that muscle? I'm aiming to drop down to about 77-80kg. Also, do you think that training regime is the most effective way of increasing fitness and speed, without running too much on grass? I cant really do long, fast stuff on hard surfaces yet, which is a bit limiting.

by **Meteorswarm** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:59 am UTC

I struggled with shin splints for a while, while only running on pavement. You might want to try forefoot running, since it lets you adjust your stride to the hardness of the pavement. It'll take some time to get readjusted to, though. You need calves of steel.

by **voidPtr** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 4:40 pm UTC

Apologies if this has already been asked..I glanced through the thread and couldn't see anything.

I'm just getting into running now.All the literature on the internet I'm reading suggest starting with the walk/run routine. Walk for 5 minutes, run for 1 minute, repeat for a half hour gradually building up to running for 20minutes over 6-8weeks.

This seems pretty tedious to me. I ran a bit many years ago, and although I'm not in the best shape of my life at the moment, I can still maintain a good running pace for 3-4km, or say, 20minutes, and I'd rather just do that with a 5-minute warmup/cooldown walk at the beginning and end of the run.

The question is, by going for the all-out run, am I setting myself up for injury or poor longterm results? Should I go with the run/walk routine for a few weeks (maybe fasttracking it a little bit..say 4 weeks..)?

by **Meteorswarm** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:36 am UTC

voidPtr wrote:Apologies if this has already been asked..I glanced through the thread and couldn't see anything.

I'm just getting into running now.All the literature on the blagotube I'm reading suggest starting with the walk/run routine. Walk for 5 minutes, run for 1 minute, repeat for a half hour gradually building up to running for 20minutes over 6-8weeks.

This seems pretty tedious to me. I ran a bit many years ago, and although I'm not in the best shape of my life at the moment, I can still maintain a good running pace for 3-4km, or say, 20minutes, and I'd rather just do that with a 5-minute warmup/cooldown walk at the beginning and end of the run.

The question is, by going for the all-out run, am I setting myself up for injury or poor longterm results? Should I go with the run/walk routine for a few weeks and weeks (maybe fasttracking it a little bit..say 4 weeks and weeks..)?

I have no idea whether what I did is optimal or not, but most likely it's just as likely to be true than internet anecdotes. I started by just going running and slowly expanding my range, from .5 miles to 1 mile to 1.5 and finally to about 2 miles, after which I found I could run 3 easily, and really could go about as far as I wanted. I'd say just go for it.

by **duckshirt** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:10 pm UTC

If you can run, do it. Depending on fitness, some people can't run consistently for long, so that's what those walk-run plans are for, but since you have running experience and know you can do it, go for it. I assume 'all-out run' means you're running nonstop, but not all-out effort... You should definitely not run all-out effort every day, only when you do a tough workout or test your performance, which you can't do every run.

Izawwlgood wrote:Anyone ever crash an official event? Just ninja it, get in and run, come out of the chute and walk off?

I did this when I was in Rome last weekend, sort of... I knew about a race going on in a big park downtown, so I ran ~5 miles to get there, it was already just starting, I jumped in the pack in probably about 50th place, worked my way up and enjoyed the course, probably finishing around 25th. (The lucky part was they happened to give out T-shirts after the race, rather than before, and they had plenty so they still gave me one.)

That would be a good suggestion to people who were talking about running but not wanting to register for big races... 'Bandit' running IS something that's tolerated and aknowledged at big races (sometimes, if it's not chip-timed, they'll say not to run through the finish line to avoid the confusion, so just jump off the course at the end)... Fortunately most of the races I've seen in Europe are smaller series-like events, which only cost a couple euros and don't have all the extra stuff... Running races is definitely an underrated thing to do when abroad or on vacation.

by **Dynokate** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 4:34 am UTC

Hello everyone! I'm just starting running this week, and I'm having issues. I can only keep up running steadily for a couple minutes straight. I know that I should aim for 30-ish minutes, but after five or ten I feel like I'm DYING. It's kinda discouraging, because I'm actually not in "bad shape" other than the running thing. (5'7", 122 lbs, and I do a fair amount of strength training.) I just don't feel like I'm actually healthy or in shape if I'm entirely incapable of running a mile without stopping, even though I have people look and me and tell me I don't need to be working out so much. (Which is reallllly not helpful when I'm trying to focus on keeping on exercising)

Also, I'm joining the Air Force in a year and a half, so the fact that I can't run is in the back of my mind whenever I think about basic training. :cry:

I do enjoy running, though...once it's over. After a good run ("good" being entirely relative), I feel AWESOME! I just need to figure out how to get the distance/time up. I'm not sure how long, realistically, it's going to take for me to get better at this. Any tips?

(Also, I can't afford new running shoes right now. Like, at all. I'm flat broke and my shoes are wearing out. It's just plain depressing.)

by **Meteorswarm** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 3:10 pm UTC

Dynokate wrote:I do enjoy running, though...once it's over. After a good run ("good" being entirely relative), I feel AWESOME! I just need to figure out how to get the distance/time up. I'm not sure how long, realistically, it's going to take for me to get better at this. Any tips?

Are you able to go farther each time? When I was starting to run, I couldn't run a mile either, but I just slowly built up over a few weeks, running farther each time. Make sure you give yourself days to rest, and you'll improve. Once you hit about 2 miles, you'll probably be able to run an arbitrary distance.

by **raumasy** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:39 am UTC

Any other barefoot runners out there? I tend to be a short-mid distance runner, between 2 and 10k's. Aiming to do the city-bay in under 45 minutes this year (12km) but have some substantial training to reach that. I'm currently doing about 12k's an hour, so I need to step up both the pace and endurance a little. Mind you, i've not been running long, and fairly intermittently at that.

by **Dave_Wise** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:52 pm UTC

I tend to do everything barefoot unless the cold makes my feet go numb. Your single-leg squats definetly improve as a result.

by **Taiyo** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:42 pm UTC

Dynokate wrote:Hello everyone! I'm just starting running this week, and I'm having issues. I can only keep up running steadily for a couple minutes straight. I know that I should aim for 30-ish minutes, but after five or ten I feel like I'm DYING.

In this case I'd advise doing one of those run/walk routines that was just mentioned from the internet--you don't have to start at the beginning, you can just start further in on the program to work up to the 30 minutes. You could also try running more slowly and work up you speed? I'm not a veteran or anything, just speaking from personal experience as someone who worked up from only being able to run for 5-10 minutes straight and feeling like I was going to die, to running for 30-40 minutes straight most mornings now!

PS: General question: is it better to try to accelerate at the end of your run, or is it better to just keep going at a steady pace to finish off?

by **duckshirt** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:20 pm UTC

Well, I now have a marathon in the books. 3:07, a bit off my goal pace that I started at, 2:50-55, but I was in "just don't stop" mode for the last ~12k with my calves cramping up. Now, back to the shorter distances; next 5k I run will feel like a drag race... (not for a while though, my body is wrecked, obviously)

Taiyo wrote:PS: General question: is it better to try to accelerate at the end of your run, or is it better to just keep going at a steady pace to finish off?

If by the 'end' you mean the last 2-400m, just keep it steady. Unless it's a race, it's not worth wasting a burst of energy and could be unnecessarily bad for your legs... It is good, I think, to run strides after a run (~100m, 3 or 4 times, run harder than normal but not sprinting) because they help smoothen out form and build that muscle memory to run more efficiently. If by the 'end' of the run you mean the last significant portion of the run (the last couple miles or so), there's nothing wrong with picking up the pace, but there's no need to sprint the last little bit.

by **Gears** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:06 am UTC

3 mile run: 20 minutes.

by **Patman** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:17 am UTC

duckshirt wrote:Well, I now have a marathon in the books. 3:07...

Awesome time. Your goal is similar to mine. 2:50 pace is a good target.

by **el_loco_avs** » Mon May 03, 2010 12:02 pm UTC

Last week i participated in the Batavierenrace. 185km relay for students. I unfortunately got some wicked flu the weekend before which messed with my prep and definately ate away some of my reserves and strength. I did run my ass off (rest of the team were fit as hell... so i couldn't let them down) and I was freaking dizzy after finishing my 8.2k part. Proud despite the mediocre time i set haha.

by **thicknavyrain** » Mon May 03, 2010 1:47 pm UTC

@el_loco_avs: That sounds pretty cool! Maybe next time you'll feel better?

Also, I'm sure you guys know about this type of thing but, there's sort of a "jogging route calculator" if you will. Posting my route so any experienced runners can elucidate* me as to whether I should bother with something bigger or stick to it after 2 years of on and off amateur running. Basically, what do you think, and what do you guys do as your "regular" run?

http://www.walkjogrun.net/routes/curren ... 685C7F48CE

I'm curious to see other people's routes too.

*Yes, I goddamn love that word.

by **Nath** » Sat May 08, 2010 7:56 am UTC

Any forefoot runners here? I've been looking for some minimalist running shoes without too much heel. Considering the Puma Speeder M. Any experience with this shoe?

I've also considered the K Street II (a favorite of the POSE community), and a couple of Saucony shoes (Bullet and Kilkenny XC).

More general recommendations on this sort of running are also welcome.

by **duckshirt** » Sat May 08, 2010 6:58 pm UTC

I'm racing again tomorrow... I just need to choose between the more competitive 10k and shoot for about 5th place or the 5k, which is a distance I'd rather run right now, and it might be fun to win and get some sort of prize and my picture on the website, but it won't necessarily be a fast time. There are lots of pros and cons to each one, but it'll be fun either way.

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/may/tramps-like-us
I also thought I'd post this article from a few years ago that I came across the other day. It's basically about how the human body is pretty much made to run long-distance (and beat any other animal), which I found to be kind of inspiring. And it's just from a regular science magazine, too, so you can tell it's not like a running magazine obviously biased towards getting people to run more.

by **Shro** » Sun May 09, 2010 3:54 pm UTC

Nath wrote:Any forefoot runners here? I've been looking for some minimalist running shoes without too much heel. Considering the Puma Speeder M. Any experience with this shoe?

I've also considered the K Street II (a favorite of the POSE community), and a couple of Saucony shoes (Bullet and Kilkenny XC).

More general recommendations on this sort of running are also welcome.

I just started using the Vibram FiveFinger shoes. I <3 my rubber foot gloves. I even wear them around town shopping and stuff.

Getting used to running in them is hard. Plus, I haven't really been a runner in my entire life. Just starting out, I can do a 5k on the ellipticals in about 34 minutes. I've done >9 miles in the last three days. I don't know what time it would translate to in real life, but I usually jog/walk with my dog, and do a mile walking warm up, and then 2 miles a little harder. I'm trying!

by **Gears** » Mon May 10, 2010 2:10 am UTC

3 miles in 20 minutes.

by **Meteorswarm** » Tue May 11, 2010 4:44 pm UTC

Nath wrote:Any forefoot runners here? I've been looking for some minimalist running shoes without too much heel. Considering the Puma Speeder M. Any experience with this shoe?

I've also considered the K Street II (a favorite of the POSE community), and a couple of Saucony shoes (Bullet and Kilkenny XC).

More general recommendations on this sort of running are also welcome.

I got a pair of Nike free 5.0s, they're pretty nice, but they do have a bit of a heel. It doesn't usually get in my way, and they're very flexible.

Do you already run on your forefoot? If you don't, your calves will be in for a bit of a shock.

by **Nath** » Tue May 11, 2010 8:55 pm UTC

I currently don't run at all. I'm probably reasonably conditioned from my sport, but I'll have to start slow on the running, forefoot or otherwise.

From what I've read online about the Speeder, it's a reasonable shoe, but wears out quickly. Considering the Onitsuka Tiger 81 instead.

by **Meteorswarm** » Wed May 12, 2010 3:19 am UTC

Nath wrote:I currently don't run at all. I'm probably reasonably conditioned from my sport, but I'll have to start slow on the running, forefoot or otherwise.

From what I've read online about the Speeder, it's a reasonable shoe, but wears out quickly. Considering the Onitsuka Tiger 81 instead.

It's also somewhat cheaper than the usual $80-$100 pricetag of running shoes, and the lighter shoes tend to wear out faster. It's not necessarily that terrible, especially if they're cheaper.

by **Nath** » Wed May 12, 2010 3:26 am UTC

True. Then again, the Tiger 81 is in the same price range, and weighs about an ounce more.

by **Meteorswarm** » Wed May 12, 2010 10:58 pm UTC

Nath wrote:True. Then again, the Tiger 81 is in the same price range, and weighs about an ounce more.

I mean, the wearing out quickly is mostly a function of having the kind of thin sole you want for running; you can't really avoid it unless you make the shoes out of unobtanium.

by **Patman** » Mon May 24, 2010 10:13 am UTC

Nath wrote:True. Then again, the Tiger 81 is in the same price range, and weighs about an ounce more.

Vintage Tigers are undoubtedly the best lookin' kicks out. I've got two pairs of Seiko; mid and lowcut. They're not quite as sophisticated as the 81s. I ran my Tigers to death as they were my first running shoes. They started giving me injuries when the foam gave out, it kind of compressed. I can still wear 'em as street shoes no prob. I bought some beautiful Mizunos afterwards and my running certainly improved, but by this time the Tigers had 'had it'.
Modern runners are probably the ugliest thing next to poos. The good thing about having nice looking runners is they change your lifestyle. You'll start dashing left <=> right when ever you feel like it!

I've cut my running right done as of late from ~60km to ~20km, I've been replacing it with copious amounts of Hot Yoga and Jiu-jitsu. The yoga is new to me, it has some muscular and cardiovascular benefit and it's excellent for my breathing. I like that yoga is very gentle unlike BJJ and hard middle distance running.
When I have been running it has been a new kind of springiness. This could be due to the lower mileage, but I believe it's the stronger muscle built around my knees that is responsible.

I've bought a cheap heart rate monitor, it should arrive in the next couple of days (SIgma PC15). Anyone else with an HRM? any experiences to share?

by **viscusanima** » Sat May 29, 2010 10:56 am UTC

I've begun to run 10k quite often in the past couple of months, and I'm curious as to what the best strategy would be to get my time down, stamina up, sprint length up etc?

by **Patman** » Sat May 29, 2010 11:06 pm UTC

viscusanima wrote:I've begun to run 10k quite often in the past couple of months, and I'm curious as to what the best strategy would be to get my time down, stamina up, sprint length up etc?

Running 5km races for speed. Run slightly longer than 10Km for stamina (11-14Km). Before my last half marathon I would run 10-12 km twice daily 3 times a week and smaller runs on the other days (5-10Km, maybe a trail or a hill). My stamina was the best it's been during that time.

by **Tlcavon2010** » Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:47 am UTC

wow.. i have been looking for this thread. Thanks a lot.

by **dawg1232** » Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:24 pm UTC

Totally started running again and did 4 miles today. Holy hell, I'm out of shape. Still, I finished it without stopping. Running a 5k in August and hope to do a marathon before the end of next year

by **michaelyw** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 12:32 pm UTC

Found a new thread of interest. Not much to contribute at the moment but I need to add this to my vanity list.

I run every other day, about 5K, and on one of the weekend days I run 8-9 miles. In theory I'm training for a half-marathon but I'm not increasing my distance much. I think I need to go buy a product or two so I can carry water while I run. When it's hot I don't feel like running too terribly far without having water with me (and the wife isn't willing to ride her bike with me to be my mule).

by **Zapheod** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:06 pm UTC

After the crushing pain my joints felt after my first marathon I have decided to transition from heal to fore-foot running. Went out for my first run yesterday and 2 miles killed my calves. I can see myself having to train from the ground up.

Anyone else make this transition? Have any reccomendations to make it easier? Also, anyone try out the Vibram 5 finger shoes? I was looking at them online and am considering buying a pair(even though my current shoes only have 75 miles on em).

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